How Bond Money Will Be Spent

John Marshall Library — $5 Million: The 16,500-square-foot library opened in 1974, and customers borrow nearly 19,000 items per month. The building will be renovated and expanded. The library is located in the Lee District, which is expected to have a 17 percent growth in population by 2030.

Pohick Regional Library — $5 Million: Opened in 1986, this library loans out nearly 58,000 items per month, and the 25,000-square-foot building will be renovated. The library is located in the Springfield District, which is expected to have a 5.6 percent growth in population by 2030.

Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library — $5 Million: Customers borrow nearly 43,000 items per month from this library, which opened in 1986. The 25,000-square-foot interior will be renovated to provide more public space. The library is located in the Dranesville District, which is expected to have a 12.9 percent growth in population by 2030.

Public Safety — $55 Million

Fire Stations — $35 Million

Baileys Crossroads Fire Station — $9 Million: Built in 1974, the roof of the 11,000-square-foot station collapsed during the 2010 blizzard, also known as “snowmageddon.” The station will be replaced with 16,900-square-foot, four-bay (two drive-through bays) fire station. Continuous fire and rescue service will be provided to the community during construction of the new station.

Herndon Fire Station — $12 Million: The existing 8,162-square-foot station, built in the 1950s, is one of the oldest in the county. A new 14,500-square-foot station will be constructed at the existing site, and will include three bays (with one bay sized to park vehicles in front of each other), as well as 20 underground parking spaces.

Jefferson Fire Station — $14 Million: Now 48-years-old, the 14,670-square-foot fire station is scheduled to be replaced; the station lacks sufficient space for equipment for the Technical Rescue Operations Team, as well as adequate accommodations for female personnel. A 2005 study rated the station as “in poor condition” overall.

Courthouse Renovations — $20 Million: Built in the early 1980s, the courtrooms in the original Jennings Judicial Center — now known as the Fairfax County Courthouse — have been in constant use by the public. Bond funds are slated to renovate 22 courtrooms, nine for the General District Court and 13 for the Circuit Court.

Renovations include making courtrooms compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), security upgrades and video conferencing to allow for video arraignments and testimony from remote witnesses.

*Parks and Park Facilities — $75 Million: If approved, the county currently plans to use this bond money to buy land, renovate and expand existing facilities, improve community parks and fund the county’s contribution to the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority’s capital improvement plan.

Fairfax County Park Authority — $63 Million: The Fairfax County Park Authority administers 23,194 acres of parkland and 420 individual parks. These include parks that provide countywide services, such as camping, golf, ice skating and swimming as well as RECcenters.

Community Parks/New Facilities — $7.28 Million: A wide array of park and recreational facilities is included in this category such as the first phase of improvements at Monticello Park, Hartland Road Park and White Gardens and continued phased development at Laurel Hill Park and Patriot Park. Countywide improvements in park signage and funding of the Mastenbrook matching grant program are also included.

Facility Expansion —$19.49 Million: An expansion to Spring Hill RECenter features new fitness space, renovations to the locker rooms, the addition of multipurpose activity rooms and a new gym area. Twin Lakes Golf Course would expand its Oak Room facility to increase capacity for tournaments and an events pavilion would be built at Greendale Golf Course. Oak Marr RECenter would be expanded featuring new fitness spaces and improved facility flow. Additional features at the Water Mine at Lake Fairfax would be added to enhance the visitor experience and increase capacity.

Existing Facility Renovation —$23.30 Million: Renovations of existing facilities include paving of a portion of the Cross County Trail in Wakefield Park. An outlay of $2.2 million would fund trail upgrades and connections to the park trail network. Various athletic field improvements such as converting to synthetic turf, field upgrades and lighting improvements would be funded for many athletic fields

Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA) — $12 Million: Founded in 1959 with a focus on land conservation, NVRPA is supported by Fairfax, Arlington and Loudoun counties, and the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax and Falls Church. These six jurisdictions have worked cooperatively to develop a regional park system encompassing 25 parks and more than 11,000 acres of land. In Fairfax County, NVRPA protects more than 8,000 acres – most of which include environmentally-sensitive watersheds along Bull Run and the Potomac and Occoquan rivers.

NVRPA generates more than 83 percent of its operating budget through user fees and grants. The majority of NVRPA’s capital improvement and land acquisition costs are shared by its six member jurisdictions. The parks bond question asks the voters whether to authorize Fairfax County to borrow money to fund its share of the costs of parks and park facilities to be acquired, constructed, developed and equipped by NVRPA.

Some specific projects planned include waterfront enhancements at Occoquan; W&OD Trail renovations and safety improvements; campground improvements at Bull Run and Pohick Bay; and renovations at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.

Storm water — $30 Million: The money would be used for storm drainage improvements to prevent flooding and soil erosion, primarily in the Huntington community. In June 2006, 160 homes were flooded, and 161 homes were damaged in 2011 during Tropical Storm Lee. Currently, there are 180 homes in the FEMA-designated floodplain that are at risk.

At Fairfax County’s request, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers studied the best ways to protect Huntington from future floods. The study examined a number of options, including dredging Cameron Run, buying the flood-prone properties and flood-proofing individual homes.

The study found that building a levee and a pumping station is the most cost-effective way to reduce flooding in the neighborhood. Bond funds are planned to pay to complete the design and build a 2,865-foot-long levee and pumping station, along with buying any land needed for this purpose.